[{"main_file_link":[{"url":"https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705261464334","open_access":"1"}],"citation":{"bibtex":"@article{Funke_Walsh_Schäfers_2026, title={The Moment of Delivery in Online Retailing: How Courier Types and Inoculation Messages Affect Reactions to the Last-Mile Experience}, DOI={<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705261464334\">10.1177/10946705261464334</a>}, journal={Journal of Service Research}, publisher={SAGE Publications}, author={Funke, Christopher and Walsh, Gianfranco and Schäfers, Tobias}, year={2026} }","ama":"Funke C, Walsh G, Schäfers T. The Moment of Delivery in Online Retailing: How Courier Types and Inoculation Messages Affect Reactions to the Last-Mile Experience. <i>Journal of Service Research</i>. 2026. doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705261464334\">10.1177/10946705261464334</a>","short":"C. Funke, G. Walsh, T. Schäfers, Journal of Service Research (2026).","alphadin":"<span style=\"font-variant:small-caps;\">Funke, Christopher</span> ; <span style=\"font-variant:small-caps;\">Walsh, Gianfranco</span> ; <span style=\"font-variant:small-caps;\">Schäfers, Tobias</span>: The Moment of Delivery in Online Retailing: How Courier Types and Inoculation Messages Affect Reactions to the Last-Mile Experience. In: <i>Journal of Service Research</i>, SAGE Publications (2026)","mla":"Funke, Christopher, et al. “The Moment of Delivery in Online Retailing: How Courier Types and Inoculation Messages Affect Reactions to the Last-Mile Experience.” <i>Journal of Service Research</i>, SAGE Publications, 2026, doi:<a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705261464334\">10.1177/10946705261464334</a>.","ieee":"C. Funke, G. Walsh, and T. Schäfers, “The Moment of Delivery in Online Retailing: How Courier Types and Inoculation Messages Affect Reactions to the Last-Mile Experience,” <i>Journal of Service Research</i>, 2026.","chicago":"Funke, Christopher, Gianfranco Walsh, and Tobias Schäfers. “The Moment of Delivery in Online Retailing: How Courier Types and Inoculation Messages Affect Reactions to the Last-Mile Experience.” <i>Journal of Service Research</i>, 2026. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705261464334\">https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705261464334</a>.","apa":"Funke, C., Walsh, G., &#38; Schäfers, T. (2026). The Moment of Delivery in Online Retailing: How Courier Types and Inoculation Messages Affect Reactions to the Last-Mile Experience. <i>Journal of Service Research</i>. <a href=\"https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705261464334\">https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705261464334</a>"},"_id":"7190","department":[{"_id":"4b2dc5c9-bee3-11eb-b75f-ecc80f94fb21"}],"author":[{"last_name":"Funke","first_name":"Christopher","full_name":"Funke, Christopher"},{"full_name":"Walsh, Gianfranco","last_name":"Walsh","first_name":"Gianfranco"},{"full_name":"Schäfers, Tobias","first_name":"Tobias","last_name":"Schäfers","orcid":"0000-0002-2533-335X","id":"253685"}],"date_updated":"2026-10-02T14:16:37Z","publication":"Journal of Service Research","status":"public","publication_status":"published","date_created":"2026-10-02T14:16:33Z","user_id":"253685","language":[{"iso":"eng"}],"abstract":[{"lang":"eng","text":"                  Online customers’ journeys span several touchpoints, which typically do not involve any interpersonal interactions with online retailers—except at the moment of delivery (MoD). When retailers use third-party courier services to fulfill orders, they relinquish control over this critical, last-mile touchpoint, possibly to their detriment. An analysis of over 35,000 reviews shows that a negative MoD experience can trigger ripple effects through detrimental word of mouth (WOM). To regain control, retailers might adopt vertical integration or inoculation. Across four experimental studies, the current research examines how courier type (proprietary vs. third-party) affects consumers’ WOM in response to positive and negative MoD experiences and how inoculation messages can reduce customers’ susceptibility to adverse effects of negative MoD experiences. A single-paper meta-analysis affirms that third-party couriers buffer the detrimental effects of negative MoD experiences, but positive MoD experiences benefit only established retailers handling last-mile delivery themselves. Inoculation messages can also increase customer resilience to last-mile failures by mitigating the adverse effects of negative MoD experiences on WOM. This research highlights couriers’ crucial role as key actors in the MoD and clarifies the effects of MoD experiences for online retailers, emphasizing the need to consider both couriers and preemptive measures.\r\n                "}],"publication_identifier":{"eissn":["1552-7379"],"issn":["1094-6705"]},"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/","file_date_updated":"2026-10-02T14:15:25Z","oa":"1","title":"The Moment of Delivery in Online Retailing: How Courier Types and Inoculation Messages Affect Reactions to the Last-Mile Experience","quality_controlled":"1","urn":"urn:nbn:de:hbz:bi10-71903","year":"2026","article_type":"original","file":[{"success":1,"creator":"tschaefers","date_updated":"2026-10-02T14:15:17Z","date_created":"2026-10-02T14:15:17Z","access_level":"open_access","file_name":"Funke et al - The moment of delivery.pdf","relation":"main_file","content_type":"application/pdf","file_id":"7191","file_size":739473},{"file_size":584385,"file_id":"7192","file_name":"JSR1464334 - Moment of Delivery - WEB APPENDIX.pdf","relation":"main_file","content_type":"application/pdf","creator":"tschaefers","date_updated":"2026-10-02T14:15:25Z","success":1,"date_created":"2026-10-02T14:15:25Z","access_level":"open_access"}],"doi":"10.1177/10946705261464334","type":"journal_article","has_accepted_license":"1","publisher":"SAGE Publications","tmp":{"name":"Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)","short":"CC BY-NC (4.0)","legal_code_url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/legalcode","image":"/images/cc_by_nc.png"}}]